Episode zero: Fiora "Long Sword" Eleri

By Prinder

Warnings: slight language, death, blood, and guts all out violence!

Summery: this is Fiora's story before AC 195. This will give you some idea as to how Fiora thinks, why she thinks that way, how she came to think that way, and what she really means when she says something.

Part one: the beginning

And NO! I'm not talking about how the earth was created!

In case you haven't figured it out… I'm Fiora Eleri (also known as Fiora LongSword, Fiora "long sword" Eleri, or just pain old, Fiora).

First off, I would like to say, that I hate this idea, I can't believe I'm actually sitting here writing my, very short, very pointless, life story. As if I don't have better things to go with my time! Oh well, guess this is the part where I make the best of it, right?

The beginning would be the day that I was born. From what I was told (by members of my family tree) I was born on AC 180, it was summer time from what they said (how they would know beats the hell out of me! We were in space at the time! There are no seasons in space). Anyways, they decided that I was born on June 21, AC 180. You know, just for kicks!

Everyone was there, all of my aunts and uncles, grandpapa, grandmamma (on my mother's side of the family, if you're wondering), granny, gramps (dad's side), Daddy and last, but not least, my big Brother Racy (also known as Race or Racimous).

I was born with a head full of bright red hair and yellow looking eyes (my hair became darker as I grew older, as did my eyes), I was a small thing, from what they said, barely weighing in at 6 pounds! I was to be small and scrawny from that point on (and I hate every goddamned minute of it!). Funny thing is, Mama wanted me that way.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why would she want me to be the short shit that I am today? And why do I say it like she had a choice in the matter?

The answer is simple. She did have a choice in that matter! She was a scientist, and not just any scientist, oh no! She was a master in DNA recoding! So she did a little tweaking here, a little tweaking there, and badda boom! Badda Bing! She had herself a whole new brand of human!

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate her for it, truth of the matter is, I can't hate anyone really (I'll get into that later), it was a dangerous time, even for us! It was a hard and down right scary time, and with good reason (also get to that later… just not now) so I can't really say that I'm upset with her changing me before she even really knew me, I don't mind it so much (other then the fact that I'm shorter then short) and there are some major league pluses because of it, but not what you would expect.

First of all, you all have noticed that I'm very strong fisted compared to my size (I've made dents in perfectly good titanium with a well placed punch), but that's not because of Mama's "adjustments" in the least.

You see. There is more then just one group of Shuttle folk… we are divided up into "teams" "groups" "divisions" whatever you want to call it. Anyways… each division hangs around one place when it's making either repairs, refueling, or just plain "chilling out" those places are located on the other planets in the solar system (my planet is Jupiter, if you must know), not counting Earth, it's moon, or the sun itself, of course.

That said, I have to tell you that because of our need to be in the orbits (sometimes even on the planet itself) a lot, our bodies are forced into unhealthy lifestyles (you try walking while the gravitational pull of Jupiter is hell bent on turning your bones into chalk dust!), hence why I'm so strong for someone of my size.

I would also like to add that because of the (VERY) toxic air that covers Jupiter, I have a (VERY) strong resistance to poisons, drugs, alcohol, and things like that… but lets keep in mind that just because nothing OVERLY physical happens to me, that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt me any! That just means that my body can't tell the difference.

Let me put it this way. You could poison me, I would feel the full affects and all that, but my body wouldn't react like most. Confusing, I know, but hey! What isn't in this world?

Okay. Now that I've explained what pluses AREN'T because of Mama playing around with my DNA code, I guess I should tell you what ARE.

My voice change thing, for one, my small size (my little brother is taller then I am for crying out loud!), and my "zone outs" (a slight flaw that I got because of that "tweaking").

But I can see that I'm not really getting anywhere with this so, I'm just going to stop with the explanations and let my story tell itself.

Um… enjoy?

~Fiora "Long Sword" Eleri

AC 183.

I didn't talk a whole lot back then. Didn't really need to. She always voiced what I wanted to say anyways. When I say "she" I mean my Mama. I guess she knew me best, I mean, we were always together. She never liked me to be far away from where she was. Now I know way.

I was only three years old when she did make me stay behind that one time. The Pluto division had a crisis on their hands. They were working on some new bio weapon of sorts, can't really remember the name of it, nor do I want to, she brought back pictures. Not a pretty sight.

I remember spending most of my days in her lab. I liked it there, for some strange reason, I found the cold stainless steel that covered most of it… oh I don't know… calming… I guess.

I spent most of that time alone in there just pouring over her databanks. Gathering information, I don't know what for, I just wanted to I guess. I know I know, odd thing for a three year old to do, I was weird what can I say? Besides, I had just mastered the art of reading not days before and I wanted to "show off" my skills.

Not that there was anyone to show them off to. I was always a loner when Mama wasn't with me. Oh sure! I did hang with my Daddy, and my two brothers, Darren was two years old and Racimous was four by then (only one-year difference between all of us, that's kind of funny when you think about it). But most of my time was spent alone, in Mama's lab, reading anything and everything I could find in the databanks. I learned more in that one year then I ever did in any school that they wanted to send me to when I got older.

When she got back she told me about JinChi… and what great friends we would make if and when we ever met. I still can't believe that she was right, we don't admit it, but we really do get along better then we make out.

AC 184.

Nothing overly important happened this year, at least, not that I can remember.

Well… there were these five mean, nasty, and down right UGLY looking men that came to talk to Mama one or twice, they would ask about me, and she would tell them about what new things I had learned how to do, and all on my own might I add.

I really didn't like them very much. But Mama was on speaking terms with them, so I guess it was okay. I really didn't like them; their names were Mr. H, O-Sama, Mr. J, and Mr. G. The weirdest names I had ever heard in my young life. And wouldn't be the last that's for sure!

They always looked at me funny, I think they were jealous of Mama, cause she had me and they didn't. Okay. So, maybe not, but that's what I thought back then!

AC 185.

Oz and the Alliance put us on "leashes" this year. Not in the literal sense, no, they didn't put anything ON us per say, but they DID keep a close eye on us. I was really scared sometimes I admit it! I was only five!

And they were mean, and when I say, "mean" I mean down right NASTY! Whenever we docked on a colony, they would be there, ready and waiting, just waiting to line us all up and search our ships. They didn't care that there were children on those ships, they didn't care if little kids had nightmares because of what they would do if we were caught lying or hiding something on our ships, no, all they cared about was doing whatever it took to get what they wanted from us.

I remember when Granny and Gramps got caught smuggling supplies to some people on W-76632 of the L3 colony cluster. First they took the supplies, and burned them right before all of our very eyes. Then they took Granny and Gramps' ship, and blew it up, with the rest of the crew still in it, all ten thousand of them. But they weren't done yet, oh no! They were only just beginning! Next they beat both Granny and Gramps until they were broken, bloody and lifeless on the hard titanium floor. And just when you think that they couldn't possibly do anymore to us, they set fire to their bodies (what a foul smell that was) and had all of us that were left clean it up.

My brothers and I spent the next day huddled up underneath one of Mama's metal lab tables, crying our eyes out in her arms because of that. We weren't allowed to keep the bodies, they wouldn't let us give Granny and Gramps a proper funeral, and they took the ashes and tossed them into the garbage, like they were nothing more that pieces of trash. We didn't even get to say goodbye.

And now I'm crying! Gee thanks guys! I wouldn't have to be reliving all this if you all would just let me be about my past, the past is in the past… let's keep it that way… that's what I tell myself when I think about it. Remember when I would say that even though it was hard, I still had it better then most? Yeah well… I take it back…

AC 186.

Ah…school, the fine art of shoving fifty kids into one room in the hopes of beating a little common sense into their otherwise empty heads. God must hate me.

Mama didn't do kindergarten with any of us, why bother? I mean all of us were reading and writing before we were five-years old. So here I was. At my first, but not by any means my last, school.

Mama wanted me to grow up pretending to be like everybody else, it could have all been part of spy training when you look at it, what better way to learn how to act like a normal kid then to be tossed into a whole fucking army of them? Okay, so maybe I wasn't all that trilled that I was there, but why would I be? I had been by Mama's side since before I could even walk! The only time we were ever really apart was when she went to Pluto to help out over there! And now, now I was just dropped into a tot sized war zone with only a backpack, notebook, crayons, and some (albeit very sharp looking) pencils!

I was trapped in "mini-hell" for two years before I re-wired half of school to blow up at midnight… no one was hurt! It was over the weekend… and I made sure that they knew it was me that did it too! It was my first attempt at sabotage, lets just say that I was more then happy to find that the only thing left standing was the front door and part of the west side wall.

They sent me on the next flight to L7 by morning light.

AC 188.

This has got to be one of my more bittersweet memories. This was the year that I lost Mama and met Felina Star. What happened? Allow me to enlighten you…

We docked on colony X-18999 of L1 cluster. After the usual search of our ship, we went window-shopping (one of my little cousins was having a birthday that week and we were going to meet up with his family's ship in a few days and we wanted to get something for him that he really wanted, at least, that's what my Daddy said).

It started out normal enough. We were just exiting one of the bigger shops when the large screen above us caught Mama's eye. I couldn't hear what was being said over the crowds, so I don't really know what made both Mama and Daddy turn so pale. All I know is that something wasn't very right. Not that I could really do anything about it.

Mama told Daddy to take Racimous and Darren back to the ship and she pulled me aside and told me something that I would never forget.

"Do you remember the five old men that used to come and visit Mama, Fiora?" she asked, she was barely speaking above a whisper.

I only nodded. I still wasn't very talkative yet, little did I know that, that would change soon enough, that I would need to be sooner then I would have hoped.

"Dda, dda! Good… take this disk and keep it safe for me, they need it, and don't you look at it, Fiora, okay? You swear you wont?" she said as she gave me a strange disk that looked very much like a CD.

I nodded again as I put it in my pocket. Guess I should mention that "dda" is welsh for "good" as it was my native language, my family's native language.

"Fiora, mi Vychan un, take care my little one" she said as she kissed me on my forehead, murmuring her pet name for me, in her soft and slow welsh.

"Mama?" that was one of the few things that I ever really said then, I only really said anything when I was confused… hence why I talk so much now… seems like I'm always confused these days!

"Little one, my little Fiora, quick, go back to the ship, tell Daddy and the others that I'll see them on the other side" she said as she turned me to face away from her and tried to make me go.

I wouldn't budge. I only turned and looked at her again as I prepared myself for the longest speech I had ever made by that point. "No! You're planning something Mama! I'm saying right here!" okay, so that wouldn't win any academy awards, but what the hell? I was only eight!

"Fiora, if you do this for me I'll give you my necklace! Just go! Please! Please, Fiora! Go! Everyone is waiting!" she said as she knelt down and placed her hands firmly on my shoulders and shook me back and forth, as if trying to make me understand.

"And they'll still wait, for you Mama! Why would I want your dopey necklace anyways?" okay, okay, so what was pretty cold, but I never did like being bribed.

"Fiora, please, try to understand, you have to go now!" she said, she sounded like she was really upset scared, I would almost say. It's not everyday that a mother pleads with her child to do something, you know.

I finally gave in, I nodded and just as I was about to go I heard her turn and murmur "no" before a gunshot rang out behind me.

I turned just in time to see Mama fall to the ground, I didn't even notice that her killer was still standing there as I dropped to my knees and lifted her head.

"Mama? Mama?" I was trembling, its understandable, I mean, my mother was just shot down in cold blood after all.

"F-Fiora, oh my little one…" she was gasping for air. Her lungs were filling with blood I think.

It was official. My Mama was going to die. I think she knew it too. But I had to ask, just to make sure.

"Mama, are you ready to say goodbye?" okay, so that didn't come out like I was asking if she was ready to meet her maker, but once again I must stress that I was only eight at the time.

"…I am," she didn't gasp once during that, amazingly, she was only trying to think about it. I just hope that I'm that sure of myself when it's my turn. Not that I plan on going anytime soon!

"Now isn't that touching!" that was her murderer, wasn't it? I hope that he's happy. He just took away a wife, lover, daughter, scientist, and mother of three with one shot. I hope he rots in hell.

"BITE ME!" I might not have talked so much back then, but that doesn't mean that I didn't make my words count when I used them.

"Say goodnight little missy" he said as he raised his gun and honed the crosshairs on me.

I wasn't scared… okay… so maybe I was, but just a little. Didn't I mention that I was only eight?

I don't remember all that much, I closed my eyes, tightly, and waited for the gun to go off.

At the last second, with the last of her strength, Mama launched herself at me and knocked me down. The bullet grazed my shoulder. I still have the scar, you can only see it if you're looking for it, but it's still there.

"RUN!" she screamed (or at least she tried to) as she gave me a harsh push on my back as she took another bullet to the head and fell with a thump. Dead.

I did the only thing I could do. I ran. I ran as fast as my chicken legs would carry me.

This may sound dopey to all of you but, believe it or not, I did the dumbest thing I ever could have done. I ran back to my mother's body. Her killer was still there, very much confused by my lack of common sense, as I grabbed hold of Mama's necklace, and with one good yank, I ripped it from her neck and was already running away. My fist still firmly gripped on the pendent that hung from the now broken chain.

It was as if I had opened my eyes for the first time. I was suddenly painfully aware of the mobile suit battle going on all around me as I tried to find my way back to the docks.

Bright yellow beams of light, blasting all around, people running this way and that, the screams of women and children sounded everywhere as husbands, fathers, and brothers met their ends on the battle field. But that wasn't even the beginning of the horrific experience! Oh no! The colony itself just HAD to decide that it wasn't going to stay in one piece during all of this. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, buildings came crashing down, fires exploded from the rubble. Hell had just discovered the great wonder that was this very colony.

Maybe I was all but a little TOO aware of what was going on before me, maybe I was just too damn slow, or maybe it was just the fates way of saying "fuck you Fiora Eleri!" because at that very instant, the apartment complex BEHIND me came crashing down in was about to bury me in a mountain of rubble.

You know, it's really funny how fate likes to toy with my life. Just when I'm thinking that it's over, fate pulls an ace out of her sleeve and decides to let me live, just so that she can torment me again.

I let out one last scream, I was so sure I was going to die (it wasn't even funny anymore by this point) when, quite suddenly, I was knocked down by something, or someone is more like it, and sent hurling with my so-called savor just barely out of the way of the falling structure. Two inches to be precise, to be VERY precise

Now I have to tell you, I had one hell of a fucking headache by the time all was said and done. You would think that said savor would have hung around long enough for me to thank her, WRONG! She was back on her feet at a moments notice, and with a weird look from her aqua eyes and a swish of her moss brown hair she was gone! Gone baby! Solid gone!

"DON'T THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I WILL FORGET THIS! HEY KID! WE SHUTTLE FOLK REPAY DEBTS!" I called out just before she ran out if sight. I would have to say that I spoke more in that one day then I ever did in all of my tender eight years of life, combined!

I don't think she ever did send a reply; I made sure to burn her face into my memory before continuing on my way, I mean, who knows, I might have been able to help her out of a jam someday. You have NO idea how right I was.

I didn't think that I would see them before I got back to the ship. But what do you know? There they were, my father and brothers, hiding behind what was left of a brick wall, firing clip upon clip of ammo at a mobile suit. Yeah, that worked REAL well…NOT! They were using PISTOLS for crying out loud! That's like trying to blow up a battle cruiser by using a be-be gun! IT ISN'T GOING TO WORK!

It's really funny how logic escapes you when the adrenalin kicks in. God must have made humans just so that he wouldn't be bored all day.

When who all that was left of my family saw me, we all made a brake back to the ship. Amazingly, getting back to the ship was the easiest part of all this. It was like they WANTED us to get away. I hate it when I'm right.

Once we were safely back among the stars, and far away from any colony, Daddy looked us all over. Racy had a busted shoulder, some bruises, and a cracked rib, but other then that? He was alive and breathing… that's all that really counts, right? Darren got away lucky, only a sprained ankle, and a skinned knee. Me? Well other then for my bullet wound, I was bumped, bruised, and scratched. But other then that we were all okay.

The only problem was, nobody was talking, nobody wanted to voice what we all knew. Mama was dead, and not just dead, but murdered. No one asked what I saw, what I knew, and I was perfectly fine with that, I didn't feel all that much about telling them right now anyways.

I still had the pendent that hung from her necklace in the palm of my hand; it was really pretty actually, when you stop and really look at it; it was a large pale blue gem with shiny silver around its edges. Mama used to let me play with it while she worked sometimes, guess that's why she thought that I liked it, I don't; I love that necklace.

Daddy saw that I had it and took it away, told me that I shouldn't have done that; that it wasn't right to steal from the dead. I wasn't stealing it! She said I could have it! I went and hid in the air vents after that.

He did give it back though, it was about two weeks later, and along with it, he gave me a small square box, said that the gem wasn't what it seemed, it really was a locket, but instead of pictures, it held a key to the box that he gave me, said that it held all of the things that Mama held dear. What a load of crap. That's what I thought when he told me that. I hate it when I'm wrong.

In that box were some of the greatest things that I would always treasure. I didn't know it then, I wouldn't know just how much I would love what was in that box until I was much older, when I got up the nerve to open it. Duo would remember that, he was there you know. But I'll get into that later. There are still quite a few years before that that still need to come.

AC 189.

God hates my guts. He sent me an evil in "sheep's clothing" I shall always be doomed to call: Aunt Kiora! She was my Mama's evil twin (I'm serious here! She really is my Mama's twin sister). How did this happen to me? What the hell did I do to deserve this?

She arrived two months after Mama's passing, dressed in a puffy bright pink dress, white high heels, and parasol. She looked like princess bubble-yum, Marry Poppins, and Medusa the snake-haired bitch from hell, ALL ROLLED INTO ONE!

Okay, okay so I admit I didn't think that when she first arrived. But I would in the course of two days. What did she do? Glad you asked!

First she repainted my bedroom, from its rich, dark red walls, to bright neon pink! Then she took out all of my things that she deemed "too boyish" and filled my room with lamebrain DOLLS! (Which I promptly ripped the heads off and mutilated the bodies, I was going though a tough time then okay?) My room became known as "dolly-town" lucky me…NOT! It was a good thing that I didn't spend a lot of time in my postage-stamp sized room anyways. I lived in engineering for the most part. But she wasn't done there, oh no! Next she had to toss out all of my old clothes and then she bought me nothing but dresses! And not just any dresses sports fans! PINK, LACEY, FRILLY, PUFFY dresses!

Lets just say that we never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things. I can't tell you how glad I am that my brothers didn't let her get away with trying to turn me into a "nice young lady that would be absolutely PERFECT for marriage when she gets older!" OH! Did I ever HATE hearing that!

We would sneak off at every chance that we could get and practice our fighting skills, Daddy showed us the basics but we still needed to improve upon them, over the course of the years we had grown a strong loathing for Oz and the Alliance, and so we, the Shuttle kids, formed a small co-op group, hell bent on making trouble for those wannabe people.

Not one of us was overly afraid to die, I mean, we all are going to die anyways, right? So why not go down fighting? That was how we looked at things. Racy was our ringleader for the most part, he was the oldest, after all, I mean, why not?

By the time the year was out we had at least one of our "men" on every Cargo Shuttle making mischief. We attacked so quick and so quiet, they didn't even know what hit them until it was WAY too late. We were that good!

AC 190.

This was the year that we got our big brake in our little group. Darren came running in that day, waving a piece of paper in the air, as he told us the news, the colony rebels wanted to talk to us! Apparently, word had gotten around about what we were doing to the rebels. It was a big step; this meant that we were no longer the "once in a blue moon" mishap. We were walking, talking, and fighting with the big boys now!

The rebels wanted us to meet them under a stone bridge in the park on the colony T-77723 of the L5 colony cluster.

I don't know how they managed to sweet talk me into it, but before I knew it, I was with Racy and two others, waiting under that very bridge, knee deep in murky, ice cold, water.

I think they were surprised to find out that we were nothing but a bunch of "dumb" Shuttle kids. I was laughing at their faces. I couldn't help it! Their jaws practically hit the floor!

"You gonna stop staring? Or are you gonna stand there looking like a goldfish for the next two hours?" Race asked with a smirk. He must have found it just as funny as I did.

Somehow I ended up doing most of the talking, I wasn't as cocky then as I am now, and I guess they figured that if we could pull off the stunts that we did, we had to be just as good, if not better, then they were. From that point on, we were taking orders from the big boys, the colony rebels!

AC 193.

The return of Mama's old, ugly, friends signified a "changing of the winds" something was going to happen, our whole group knew it, Oz knew it, the Alliance knew it, Rom-a-feller knew it, everyone knew something was going to happen, but the big question was, what exactly was going to happen?

I remember handing over the disk. Now I'm really sorry that I swore not to look at it, it might have been of great importance, oh well! Guess I'm just going to have to live with it, huh?

This was also the year that I met JinChi for the first time. I was walking the docks, looking for a Shuttle folk run shop where I could get some rations. I was going to be going on a trip into an Alliance base (I was going to make a nice big boom with it) and I didn't want to starve while I was there. Anyways… I was walking when I saw a large crowd of soldiers gathered around in a circle, now me, being one who is always more then willing to get the crap beat out of just for the sake of another's health, ran over there and started pushing my way through so that I could actually see.

It was a Chinese girl, about my age, shorter then me (but not by much), with hair pulled into two buns on either side of her head and a one of those traditional Chinese robes (it was purple by-the-way), and boy was she ever getting pounded on! Shit! Seven guys were pushing her this way and that, punching her and kicking her again and again and again! Oh sure, she was fighting back, but she was totally out numbered here, otherwise I think she could have handled it, but who am I kidding? She was in deep mother fucking shit here!

It only took me but I second to reach over and grab a one of the attacking soldiers fist what was on a crash course with said Chinese girl's face.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it ain't nice to pick on a lady?" I asked innocently as I let him eat a knuckle sandwich, I think I put too much spice in it; it knocked him out cold!

"Ha" that came from the Chinese girl as she pulled herself back onto her feet and straightened her robes, or whatever they were, and got back into some kind of Kung-Fu fighting stance.

"Hope you don't mind! You looked like you was havin' SO much fun that I thought that I would join you!" I said with a smile.

"Not at all" she replied as we proceeded to "open up a can of whoop ass"

Didn't take us very long to take them all out. Had to make a brake for it once or twice so that we could regroup. But we did pretty well I would say.

"Not bad! Not bad at all! The name's Fiora, Fiora 'Long Sword' Eleri" I said once everything was all said and done.

"Wong, JinChi Wong, it's a pleasure" she replied.

"You not Shuttle folk?" I asked.

"I am… I just prefer not to use that name unless necessary" she replied.

Now what I am talking about? There is an easy answer to that. I'm talking about the "middle name" that I use. Long Sword is a phony. That's right. Every one that flies a Shuttle has one; it's normally a kind of old weapon, hence Long Sword. If you're Shuttle folk, you have one of those names, don't ask way… it's a long story… too long…

"To each his own… Say! My Mama met you! You're from the Pluto division!" okay, so I was "winging it" there, but I had a hunch okay? Can't blame me for wanting to follow up with it!

"Yes, I am from that division, how does your mother know me?"

"Did, she did know you… she's kinda dead now… her name was Dr. Jennora E. Eleri" I was being sarcastic with that "kinda" part.

"Dr. E? Yes, I remember her well, so you are her daughter that she spoke of" she replied.

"You could say that" she could also say that the planets orbit around the sun, it still doesn't make it any less true.

"Hum… thank you for your assistance, I am in debt to you, and I never forget to repay my debts, good day, and goodbye" she said as she bow, turned on her heel, and stalked off.

Figures that I would end up being "friends" with someone like JinChi, oh well… that's life for you… it sucks!

AC 194.

Not much more to go people… it's only taken me eleven pages!

What happened in this year isn't all that fancy really. We had received a request from the colony rebels that they wanted one of us trained for a kind of spy job, for what reason, they didn't say, but it was in the next two days time we were all gathered together to decide who would get this so-called training.

I remember sitting in the way back of the room, out of sight, out of mind, that was what I was going for. Truth-be-told I didn't want anything to do with it, we're shuttle folk not soldiers! This wasn't what I had in mind when I signed up for this.

I wasn't really paying a whole lot of attention to what was being said; if I did I might have found out just how in the fuck they decided that I was best for the job! Ah well… what can I say? I was tired and I was bored for crying out loud!

One of the colony rebels was there, and the very minute it was decided that I was the unlucky draftee, he ushered me into the training room and started drilling me on undercover ops.

Now that I look back on it I have to say that I owe him big time! He taught me everything I know about the spy business.

It's really funny how the some of the best things that has ever happened to me, happened not because I wanted it to, but because I DIDN'T want it to. Is it weird that I can find the humor in that?

Yeah.

I remember talking to Jin and asking her to be my informant, you know, just so that I don't fall out of the loop or something, and besides that, I needed somebody to "dig up dirt" on whoever it was that I was going to be "spying" on.

She sucked at that job by the why. When I did find out that it was you Gundam Pilots that I had to spy on, I know I was in deep shit! I ended up doing most of my "digging" late at night, when everyone was asleep. It was easy to get out, I just had to open my bedroom window, jump out, do an impact roll, get up, and run off to the cargo docks. Our docks are the best places to get information on someone or something. We shuttle folk are nosy in that way.

Jin was the one I sent my info to most of the time. True enough, she did find some information on you all, nothing fancy, but it was still something.

But I'm getting off the subject here aren't I? Oh well. There really wasn't anything else of great importance that happened in this year other then that.

The ending point, for now

See the above. Yeah that's right; it's almost over, key word being "almost" here folks! I still have some explaining to do, remember?

Why is it that I can't really hate anyone? Haven't you ever looked at my personality before? Hate just isn't one of my emotions, I guess. It's right up there with glaring at someone. I just don't do it.

Don't believe me? Just watch what I do when I'm having an overly bad day, you'll see what I mean.

Now, as for the whole "middle name" thing I guess a good way to sum it all up is that my Daddy wanted to hide the fact that we were related to Mama, so he would have us use the words "Long sword" as a fake last name. He told us that we were playing a joke on Oz (I don't think I have to tell you that we bought that crazy story), and that it would be funny to watch them busting their brains out over how we weren't in their databanks, which I'll admit, it was.

Now I'm going to stop right here for a second and ask you if you think I seem not just a little too perfect.

Well? Do I?

Truth of the matter is. I have more flaws then I do of perfections. I guess, even though Mama wanted me to be capable of being as strong of a fighter as I am, she also wanted me to have some flaws, you know, just to remind me that even with all of her tweaking, I was still human. Under all of these masks and layers of sink tissue, I'm still just like everyone else at heart. That I'm not invincible if you prick me, do I not bleed the same blood as you do? Do I not shed the same tears of sorrow for my lost loved ones? Do I not breathe the same air as you do? Does my heart not beat as yours does?

Just because I chose to show some emotions more then others (like laughter, happy-ness, joy, excitement, and sometimes sadness) doesn't mean that I don't feel them just the same, it just means that they're just a little more dormant then others.

My life was hard, there is no disagreeing with that, but it wasn't overly terrible either. There were happier times; sure, everyone has at least one happy moment in his or her lives, right?

I just learned to look at some of my not-quite-as-good times with a smile and laugh because that's all I can really do, I could cry and be all depressed about it, but then, what would the point be in that? It wouldn't change my past any; it won't bring back Mama, Granny, Gramps, or any of the many others that I've lost.

Why cry over something that you know you can't change? Why even bother?

The ones that I lost died for a reason, a wish, and a hope for a better life for others left behind. I don't want to be at a standstill, looking back with tears forever in my eyes, while the rest of the universe goes on ahead with out me! I have too much to offer to this world, this world as too much to offer me!

And I'm crying again. I swear you guys are so going to get it later for making me do this!

Don't look at me like that! Yeah you were laughing weren't you? Admit it, you laughed at some of the things that had happened to me, some of the things that I MADE happen.

Keep laughing. Cause in the end, when everything is all said and done, you'll look back at all the times you could have laughed, but sent glares, yells, swears, and shed tears instead.

I hope you've seen what you needed to, I hope this helps you figure out just what in the hell makes me tick, think, act, feel, and do as I do.

Could you look back into your past and smile at some of the sadder moments like I do? Would you even try now that you've seen me do it? Would you even think it worth it?

What about laughing? Could you? Or would you even attempt to laugh off your past demons. My demons tickle me a lot, couldn't you tell?

Would you tempt fate like I did (and still do)? Do I seem so crazy now that you've seen and heard how I think, act, and feel? Do I seem even crazier now?

Just think about it, you'll get it, sooner or later.

The year now is AC 197. The war is over now… I leave this story with those years still blank, you know what happened in them, why waste my time? Besides that, I'm running out of ink in my pen.

So I guess this is where I say my goodbyes, huh? Can't say that it wasn't fun; it was; it really was.

I've played the village idiot for most of my life, for the simple fact that people don't question idiots for fear of being seen as one itself. People don't think twice when they see or hear me; they just see the babbling moron that I want them too. I'm no fool, I see the looks, the spiteful sneers, and the glares they send my way. I hear the insults, the names they call me, and all the nasty comments they make.

I'm not blind, I'm not deaf, I'm not numb to this world around me, I don't live in a bubble where nothing can touch me, hurt me, harm me. I see anything and everything around me quite clearly I do hear the half-truths. I do understand it when people make me the butt of a joke, that they meant for it to cause me some form of pain.

I just chose to laugh with them, to smile back, to joke along and alone at the same time.

I'm not untouchable, I have been touched, though, it not so much in the physical then in the mental.

I'm just as real as the rest of you. My lies are only lies because you only want to see them that way, in some way, if you look at them close enough, you will see that it is the truth, just not at all how you would have pictured it.

I think I've dragged my point along in the dirt long enough; one can only butcher something like that so much you know!

There's that laughing again. Don't quit now! I like it!

You people really do need to laugh more.

Tempt fate see if it tempts back.

~Fiora "Long Sword" Eleri-Maxwell